TETFund Boss Harps On Quality, Timely Delivery of Projects

Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Mr. Sonny Echono, has highlighted the expectations of the agency from heads of beneficiary institutions, saying that meeting the expectations will help transform the institutions to be globally competitive.

Echono, who said this in Lagos, at a retreat for members of the Board of Trustees (BoT), of the fund, stated that despite added responsibilities, the fund is up to the task of making positive changes and contributions to the education sector.

According to him, the expectations from heads of higher institutions include high quality of projects, prompt delivery of the projects, among others.

“We have set a high standard for our universities and other higher institutions benefiting from our intervention projects. They must manage the resources given to them well. They must be efficient in their planning, accessing and managing the funds given them. They must be prompt in dealing with contractors. We don’t want any wasting of time that would let our projects be caught up in the web of inflation.

“They must also up their supervision mechanisms. We are also introducing more efficient supervision mechanisms. The projects must be of optimal quality. They should also take advantage of the opportunities we are giving them in the area of research, innovation, entrepreneurship among others. We are also encouraging them to be able to improve on the revenue generation so that they won’t be too dependent regarding funding,” he said.

On the added responsibilities given to the agency such as being part of the source of revenue for the Student Loan Scheme, Echono noted that there was no cause for alarm.

“All the added responsibilities bestowed on us, we can cope. First, our revenue has been increased as the education tax is now three per cent. We are also more prudent and efficient in the management of our resources and are following up on the collection of the revenue that should accrue to us. We are grateful to President Bola Tinubu for his support and magnanimity. We will surely not disappoint in the discharge of our mandate,” he stated.

The BoT Chairman, Rt Hon. Aminu Masari, former Governor of Katsina State, stated that under his leadership, the fund would do its best to advance higher education in the country.

He urged board members to leverage their wealth of experience to contribute significantly to the development of education in Nigeria. 

He paid tribute to the founding fathers of the fund and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), for their efforts in establishing TETFund. 

He urged board members to recognise the privilege of contributing to the development of higher education and to rededicate themselves to the service of the nation.

He also called on TETFund management to collaborate closely with the board to maximize the fund’s impact. He assured staff members that the board would ensure that their expectations are met, and encouraged full cooperation to leave a lasting legacy in the development of education in the country.

In a paper presented at the retreat, the immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said the future of Nigeria lies largely in the quality of tertiary education.

He spoke on ‘The role of the Board of Trustees in transforming the future of higher education in Nigeria’.

Rasheed called for synergy between the board members and the management of the fund.

“Without TEFFund, many public tertiary institutions would find it difficult to function effectively or would not have survived. That shows how important the fund is to the sector. Every hand must be on deck to support it and make it do better,” he said.